


Wolf Charmer

by cresswells



Category: Darkest Powers - Kelley Armstrong
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-18
Updated: 2012-08-18
Packaged: 2017-11-12 10:12:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/489716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cresswells/pseuds/cresswells
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek and Tori never see eye-to-eye, but when Derek finally snaps, Tori enlists Chloe's help for payback.  Shameless chlerek fluff, post-Reckoning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wolf Charmer

It was a quiet Saturday night two weeks after our escape from the Edison Group. Simon and I were making the most out of the brand new art kit he'd purchased just a few days ago. Now that things had slowed down, he'd decided to get back to work on the graphic novel of our adventures. Right now, Simon was etching out the beginnings of a gruesome illustration of Derek's first change.

"No, no," I was saying. "Too skinny."

Simon grinned, waggling his eyebrows at me. "I take it you don't mean I should give him a beer-belly. Maybe you should draw this panel since you're the expert on Derek's physique, hmm?"

I shoved him away, laughing. It was good to just hang out with Simon like this. Whatever other feelings he might have had for me a few weeks ago had all but vanished now. When Simon had said that his interest in me wasn't just a "girlfriend-or-nothing" kind of thing, he meant it. And he was a great friend to have around.

A thump sounded from the room next door, making us both jump. We looked at each other. Kit and Derek were in that room. Aunt Lauren was out visiting the local estate agent. As things had quietened down we were looking for a more permanent place to live – the motel life was hard on all of us. And Tori… Tori had wandered outside five minutes ago, claiming she'd needed some fresh air. Normally I would've offered to go with her, but I'd sensed that she wanted a few minutes of privacy. I was now painfully aware of the fact that she still hadn't returned.

As if he'd shared that last thought, Simon's pencil fell to the floor.

"Derek?" I called quietly. Impossible for an imposter to hear, but I knew Derek would.

Another thump. Before we had time to react, a shrill shriek pierced the air. Tori.

I jumped to my feet in alarm. Simon stood too, but cautiously. When I edged towards the door, he didn't move. Though we'd been safe as houses these past few weeks, we were all still a little bit jittery.

"Si – "

"Wait," he said. "You know the rules."

I did. Kit and my aunt had established some very strict ground rules. No wandering off, no drawing unnecessary attention to ourselves and no running headfirst into danger. If we thought there was trouble nearby, we were to run like hell in the opposite direction and ask questions later.

But I wasn't taking any chances. Tori and I had grown a little closer after the last couple of weeks. We still weren't braiding each other's hair and chatting about boys (Tori had made it very clear that she'd rather _not_ hear about whatever Derek and I got up to) but I'd like to think that if she thought I was in distress, she'd come to my rescue too.

Simon was muttering under his breath, preparing a spell, but I couldn't wait until he'd finished. I crept through the door and along the corridor outside. Simon followed.

When we reached the door, I called for Liz. She was usually around, always willing to lend a hand. It was in times like these that I needed her help more than ever. She was by my side in an instant.

"Hey, Chloe. What's up?"

I filled her in on the situation. As soon as I'd finished Liz zoomed through the wall to check the room ahead of us.

"Does it seem too quiet to you?" Simon whispered to me as we waited impatiently.

I nodded. It was like the scene in a horror movie when the two weaklings of the group are drawn away from the action and find themselves alone and defenceless waiting for the mad axe murderer to close in on them.

Except we most definitely weren't alone because at that moment Tori shrieked again and the door in front of us slammed open. She stormed out, eyes blazing. Liz followed.

"No danger," she confirmed and the tension dissipated from my body. "Unless you count one grumpy werewolf and one very pissed off witch."

I muttered this to Simon and he laughed in relief. Tori heard and started stomping towards us.

"Hey, Tori," I said cautiously. "What's wrong?"

She glared at me, eyes blazing with murderous rage. "Oh, don't you start," she hissed. "You need to keep a tighter leash on your _dog_ , that's what's wrong!"

Simon grinned. "What's Derek done?"

"Done? He's not doing anything. Just sitting there, reading in your room. Which, need I remind you, is the only room we have with a working T.V."

"So?" asked Simon. "It's his room too."

"So, there's a computing documentary coming on in a few minutes and I _need_ to watch it. But he's in there. He glared at me when I walked in and _growled_ when I tried to turn the T.V. on."

"It _is_ the guys' room, Tori," I pointed out.

"So? He can shove off and read where ever the hell he likes."

"Where's my dad?" Simon cut in.

Tori groaned. "Asleep. He seemed to wake up for a bit when I yelled at Derek for turning the T.V. off. Just muttered something about minding our language and then he flopped back onto the bed." She rolled her eyes, but her tone was sympathetic. Kit Bae was almost as fiercely protective of his family as Derek. They barely got a full night's sleep between the two of them. I was glad at least one of them was resting now.

"Okay," Simon said. "He's probably just aggravated because you disturbed him. But he can read in the girls' room – Chloe and I were in there anyway."

Tori threw her arms up in the air. "That's what _I_ told him!"

"Bet he took that well," I muttered.

"As much as I love my brother, he can be annoyingly stubborn," Simon said. "I remember trying to watch the basketball when he was doing his chemistry homework." He shook his head, smiling ruefully at the memory.

"Well someone's going to have to get him to move," Tori snapped.

"Sounds like a job for Chloe," Simon said.

I grimaced. As much as I liked Derek – and I really, really did like him in a breath-taking, tingle-inducing, butterflies-whenever-he-looks-at-me kind of way – like Simon, I'd learned the hard way never to interrupt him in the middle of studying.

Tori smirked.

"Um…," I said. "I'm sure Derek'll calm down in his own time. If you just give it a few minutes – "

"I don't have a few minutes," Tori moaned. "My programme is about to start and he's totally hogging the entire room. Please, Chloe? Just go in there and lure him away from the T.V."

"How?" I asked.

Tori rolled her eyes. "Chloe, you're his _girlfriend_. Do I have to spell it out? Flirt with him, seduce him."

Seduce him? I gulped. We'd only been dating for a few weeks. I had absolutely zero experience with seduction. I started stammering, but Tori wasn't paying me any attention.

"Just use that angelic charm and those big blue eyes of yours and you'll have him panting at your feet like a puppy in no time." She grinned. "Literally, in Derek's case."

"B-but – "

"Look, Chloe, I don't care how you do it, but you're going to drag him out of that room if you have to. Just remember that I don't want to hear the gory details later." She gave me a push and I stumbled towards the door, hitting the frame. It swung ajar.

I cast a beseeching glance towards Simon, but he was standing back, a smirk on his face. We didn't get much entertainment nowadays and his expression said that he found Tori's plot hilarious.

_Well, fine._

I moved forward and hovered by the open doorway, unsure.

"Derek?"

He grunted. I took that to mean that I was allowed in. I glanced back before I did. Simon gave me a thumbs-up. Tori shooed me along.

I took a step into the room, squinting in the near-darkness. The curtains were pulled shut, blocking out the bright sunlight from outside. It took my eyes a moment to adjust. When they did, I was able to make out Derek's hulking form sitting upright in a hard wooden chair, a musty-looking book open on the desk in front of him. He turned to look at me, the usual scowl etched across his face. A smaller shape was stretched out across the bed on the opposite side of the room. Kit. I edged forward quietly, not wanting to disturb Mr. Bae.

I gave Derek a small smile. His frown vanished instantly, but rather than return my smile, he turned back to the book in front of him.

"Wh- what are you reading?" I asked softly. My voice shook from nerves. _Stupid Tori._ As if I could convince Derek to leave by _flirting with him_. I only had a very basic knowledge of how to flirt and we'd only been together two weeks, so I hadn't exactly had much practice.

" _The Feynman Lectures on Electromagnetism and Matter_ ," Derek mumbled. For some reason, his cheeks were tinged pink, like he was embarrassed too.

"Oh," I said. "That… that sounds…" _Really boring,_ my mind supplied. "Cool," I said weakly. "Um… do you want to tell me about it?" I brushed his arm accidentally-on-purpose. Derek flinched and drew back. _Well, fine._

"Sorry," I said quickly, though I don't know why I was apologising – it had been nothing more than a casual touch and Derek had never reacted this way before. Hell, he and I usually used any excuse to initiate said touches. Something wasn't right.

"What is it?" I asked. Derek sighed.

"I know what this is about, Chloe," he grumbled, cheeks turning pinker. "Bionic hearing, remember?"

"Oh." My face flamed. _Of course._ I couldn't believe that I'd forgotten. In the hallway, I heard Tori groan and Simon snigger. Apparently he'd been aware that Tori's set-up would backfire.

"And you don't have to do what Tori tells you to do," Derek continued. "Just tell her to back off when she's being unreasonable."

I snorted. "And who are you to accuse her of being unreasonable?"

He scowled. "Dad's asleep in here," he whispered loudly, "and she just comes barging in, talking at her usual volume, switches the T.V. on – "

"Okay, okay," I said. "I see your point." Derek huffed, glaring in the direction of the door and I shuffled a little closer to him, resting my hand absently on his back. Now that I knew I didn't have to fake-flirt with him it was much easier to relax.

"I guess Tori'll just have to wait her turn. There's an internet café down the road – she could always watch her documentary online, later."

Derek grunted in agreement. Now that he knew he'd won me over to his side, his entire body seemed to relax too. He stole a quick glance towards the bed where his adoptive father was still sleeping and then turned back to me.

"You've got to stop letting her boss you around, Chloe," he said. "Next time Tori tells you to do something you don't want to do, just say no."

"What if I didn't want to say no?"

My hand – which had been absently rubbing small circles on his back – froze. Had I really just said that? Oops.

"I – I mean… you know, not that I wanted to trick you or anything," I stammered. "I was just kind of wondering if… if it would work. I-If I c-could… well…"

My cheeks must've been red as a tomato now. My hands flew up to my necklace which I toyed with anxiously, wishing I could be anywhere but here right now.

A large hand wrapped around the hem of my sweater. I looked down in surprise. Derek was steadfastly not looking at me.

"Did… you have a plan when you came in here, or…?" he trailed off, but his voice was softer than usual. He glanced up at me, big green eyes gleaming in the near darkness.

Was my imagination playing tricks on me, or was Derek… flirting? It was hard to tell – both of us were so new to this.

"Well," I said hesitantly, "I didn't really have a plan. I… I guess if you were receptive I would've asked you to take a walk with me."

Derek smirked knowingly. One thing always led to another when the two of us decided to "take a walk" through the sparse patch of woods just beyond the motel. He tugged me closer by the hem of my sweater – so close that my knees hit the side of his chair.

I reached out to him and found that his hand met mine halfway. We both grinned stupidly at each other.

"You know… we still could take a walk," I suggested. "This room's a bit musty and we could both use some fresh air."

"Right," he said quickly. "Yeah, I'd like that. But first…"

He tugged the front of my sweater and I yelped, stumbling forward. I landed on his lap, hands pressed against his chest, my face _very_ close to his. He looked alarmed for a moment, as if he had only meant to pull me closer but had forgotten his strength.

I giggled. "Oops."

He smiled and leaned forwards, his lips catching mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and sank into the kiss, all traces of embarrassment fading.

"Keep your hands to yourselves, kids," came a sleepy voice from the corner. We broke apart instantly to find a sleepy Kit Bae sitting up and regarding us with a humoured smirk. I felt my cheeks heat up once again as I practically flew off Derek's lap.

"Yeah, are you two done sucking face, yet?" Tori called from outside the door. "Because if Kit's awake anyway, I'd quite like to watch my programme now."

"Right," Derek said gruffly, standing up. He glanced down at me and gave me a hesitant smile, his hand curling around mine. "Well then. We'll just… take a walk."

I eagerly accepted.


End file.
